AFGHANISTAN: Policing Afghanistan: How Afghan Police Training Became a Train Wreckby Pratap Chatterjee, Tom DispatchMarch 21st, 2010The Pentagon faces a tough choice: Should it award a billion-dollar contract for training the Afghan National Police to Xe (formerly Blackwater), a company made infamous when its employees killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007, or to DynCorp, a company made infamous in Bosnia in 1999 when some of its employees were caught trafficking young girls for sex?

IRAQ: Ex-Blackwater Workers May Return to Iraq Jobsby Rod Nordland, New York Times April 3rd, 2009Late last month Blackwater Worldwide lost its billion-dollar contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq, but by next month many of its private security guards will be back on the job here. The same individuals will just be wearing new uniforms, working for Triple Canopy, the firm that won the State Department’s new contract.

US: Plea by Blackwater Guard Helps Indict Othersby GINGER THOMPSON and JAMES RISEN, New York Times December 9th, 2008On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed its case against five Blackwater private security guards, built largely around testimony from a sixth guard about the 2007 shootings that left 17 unsuspecting Iraqi civilians dead at a busy Baghdad traffic circle.

US: Limbo for U.S. Women Reporting Iraq Assaults
by JAMES RISEN, The New York TimesFebruary 13th, 2008Ms. Kineston is among a number of American women who have reported that they were sexually assaulted by co-workers while working as contractors in Iraq but now find themselves in legal limbo, unable to seek justice or even significant compensation.

IRAQ: 2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questionsby JAMES RISEN, New York TimesJanuary 10th, 2008In 2005 Blackwater accidentally dropped teargas on US soldiers, which has raised significant new questions about the role of private security contractors in Iraq, and whether they operate under the same rules of engagement and international treaty obligations that the American military observes.

US: Blackwater Mounts a Defense With Top Talent
by John M. Broder and James Risen, NY TimesNovember 5th, 2007lackwater Worldwide, its reputation in tatters and its lucrative government contracts in jeopardy, is mounting an aggressive legal, political and public relations counterstrike.

US: Blackwater's Owner Has Spies for Hireby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington PostNovember 3rd, 2007The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide, has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations and global political developments for clients in industry and government.

US: Rice Says ‘Hole’ in U.S. Law Shields Contractors in Iraq
by John M. Broder, NY TimesOctober 26th, 2007Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded on Thursday that there was a “hole” in United States law that had allowed Blackwater USA employees and other armed contractors in Iraq to escape legal jeopardy for crimes possibly committed there.

Outsourcing Fearby Robert Young PeltonOctober 2nd, 2007Robert Young Pelton is the author of "Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror " and the "Guide to the World's Most Dangerous Places." He is also co-founder of http://www.iraqslogger.com/ . This blog item is about his experiences attending the Congressional hearing into the Blackwater shootings in Iraq written on October 2nd, 2007.

US: Chief of Blackwater Defends His Employeesby John M. Broder, New York TimesOctober 2nd, 2007Erik D. Prince, chief executive of Blackwater USA, told a Congressional committee on Tuesday that his company’s nearly 1,000 armed guards in Iraq were not trigger-happy mercenaries, but rather loyal Americans doing a necessary job in hostile territory.